History

Okinawa 2 (I love Okinawa)

I visited Okinawa last month. Okinawa hosts 74 % of the U.S. bases on 0.6 % of the land. Despite overwhelming opposition, the Japanese government is taking the lead in efforts to build a new U.S. military base in Henoko Bay, emphasizing the deterrence value of the U.S. bases in Japan. Our policy makers want to proceed with the construction "shuku shuku to (calmly and solemnly)."
It is shockingly mindless and undemocratic to disregard the Okinawans' will. Here are some of useful websites on anti-U.S. base acitivities and protests (see the Japanese version – four of eleven sites are in English).

Okinawa 2 (I love Okinawa)

I visited Okinawa last month. Okinawa hosts 74 % of the U.S. bases on 0.6 % of the land. Despite overwhelming opposition, the Japanese government is taking the lead in efforts to build a new U.S. military base in Henoko Bay, emphasizing the deterrence value of the U.S. bases in Japan. Our policy makers want to proceed with the construction "shuku shuku to (calmly and solemnly)."
It is shockingly mindless and undemocratic to disregard the Okinawans' will. Here are some of useful websites on anti-U.S. base acitivities and protests (see the Japanese version – four of eleven sites are in English).

Recently I have read some papers on the 2015 security legislation, the collective self-defense, and the LDP’s constitutional revision push.

This video explains what I have learned for the past months in only 5 minutes. Very nice! Please share this with as many people as you can!

Okinawa 2 (I love Okinawa)

I visited Okinawa last month. Okinawa hosts 74 % of the U.S. bases on 0.6 % of the land. Despite overwhelming opposition, the Japanese government is taking the lead in efforts to build a new U.S. military base in Henoko Bay, emphasizing the deterrence value of the U.S. bases in Japan. Our policy makers want to proceed with the construction "shuku shuku to (calmly and solemnly)."
It is shockingly mindless and undemocratic to disregard the Okinawans' will. Here are some of useful websites on anti-U.S. base acitivities and protests (see the Japanese version – four of eleven sites are in English).

Okinawa 2 (I love Okinawa)

I visited Okinawa last month. Okinawa hosts 74 % of the U.S. bases on 0.6 % of the land. Despite overwhelming opposition, the Japanese government is taking the lead in efforts to build a new U.S. military base in Henoko Bay, emphasizing the deterrence value of the U.S. bases in Japan. Our policy makers want to proceed with the construction "shuku shuku to (calmly and solemnly)."
It is shockingly mindless and undemocratic to disregard the Okinawans' will. Here are some of useful websites on anti-U.S. base acitivities and protests (see the Japanese version – four of eleven sites are in English).

This blog is about the articles of Okuizumi Eizaburo (1940 – 2013) on “The Story of Peach Boy and Japanese Culture.” It was published in the Japanese American newspaper, Mid America Guide, from February to August (except July) in 1996.

I think that Momotaro is still relevant in today’s Japan. Okuizumi writes that evil Oni (鬼) is Oni (隠), namely something invisible (it can be seen it as Japan’s perception of foreign threats). Momotaro story can be also associated with Nippon Kaigi school’s regimentation, hate indoctrination, and instrumentalization of children. Peach Boy is a very interesting subject to study, indeed.

Okinawa 2 (I love Okinawa)

I visited Okinawa last month. Okinawa hosts 74 % of the U.S. bases on 0.6 % of the land. Despite overwhelming opposition, the Japanese government is taking the lead in efforts to build a new U.S. military base in Henoko Bay, emphasizing the deterrence value of the U.S. bases in Japan. Our policy makers want to proceed with the construction "shuku shuku to (calmly and solemnly)."
It is shockingly mindless and undemocratic to disregard the Okinawans' will. Here are some of useful websites on anti-U.S. base acitivities and protests (see the Japanese version – four of eleven sites are in English).

Okinawa 2 (I love Okinawa)

I visited Okinawa last month. Okinawa hosts 74 % of the U.S. bases on 0.6 % of the land. Despite overwhelming opposition, the Japanese government is taking the lead in efforts to build a new U.S. military base in Henoko Bay, emphasizing the deterrence value of the U.S. bases in Japan. Our policy makers want to proceed with the construction "shuku shuku to (calmly and solemnly)."
It is shockingly mindless and undemocratic to disregard the Okinawans' will. Here are some of useful websites on anti-U.S. base acitivities and protests (see the Japanese version – four of eleven sites are in English).

Okinawa 2 (I love Okinawa)

I visited Okinawa last month. Okinawa hosts 74 % of the U.S. bases on 0.6 % of the land. Despite overwhelming opposition, the Japanese government is taking the lead in efforts to build a new U.S. military base in Henoko Bay, emphasizing the deterrence value of the U.S. bases in Japan. Our policy makers want to proceed with the construction "shuku shuku to (calmly and solemnly)."
It is shockingly mindless and undemocratic to disregard the Okinawans' will. Here are some of useful websites on anti-U.S. base acitivities and protests (see the Japanese version – four of eleven sites are in English).

[[http:www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/05/17/national/politics-diplomacy/economics-u-s-base-redevelopment-sway-okinawa-mindset/#.VWg8NFIppf6|Japan Times Journal]]

Looking at Flaws in the Henoko Landfill Permit Process from the Standpoint of the Right to Self-determination

[[http:japanfocus.org/events/view/250|Japan Focus Journal]]

Three frontiers (Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands)

The other day my future sister-in-law took me to the [[w:Tripoint]] where the borders of three countries meet. Somehow, it profoundly struck me as I was born in an island nation without land borders. For our European fellows, though, the line of demarcation between two countries is a quite normal/ordinary thing.
I asked her to take me there again and took some photos. The tripoint reminded me of my poster presentation at the cultural festival (bunkasai) of the high school. There, I raised questions: What if Japan had the land borders? How would it influence our politics, culture, and diplomatic relations?
Perhaps, the definition of protecting country may have been different. It is surely not about buying expensive second-hand military fighters from the US and being a user-friendly American client state. But, it is rather about protecting the lives of the Japanese people, being close, friendly, and diplomatic with other Asian countries, and being an independent American ally.

Okinawa 2 (I love Okinawa)

I visited Okinawa last month. Okinawa hosts 74 % of the U.S. bases on 0.6 % of the land. Despite overwhelming opposition, the Japanese government is taking the lead in efforts to build a new U.S. military base in Henoko Bay, emphasizing the deterrence value of the U.S. bases in Japan. Our policy makers want to proceed with the construction "shuku shuku to (calmly and solemnly)."
It is shockingly mindless and undemocratic to disregard the Okinawans' will. Here are some of useful websites on anti-U.S. base acitivities and protests (see the Japanese version – four of eleven sites are in English).

This blog is about my thoughts on John W. Dower’s book Embracing Defeat in Japanese. Several years ago, I read the conclusion chapter only (yes, shame on me). I thought that we Japanese already know this stuff, so the book had been sitting on my bookshelf for years.

But somehow I thought of this book and started reading it. And, once I started reading, I could not stop… and I kept murmuring to myself or growling “Omoshiroiiiii (interesting).” It was an immense pleasure to read.

Contrary to the lyrics of the Southern All Stars (the school textbooks run out of time before getting that part), the book starts with “the part we most want to know.”

It is said that Japan has changed remarkably for the last seven decades. Yet, seemingly there are so many things unchanged: low status of women, their legal and social oppression, poverty, younger women’s resorting to sex work, the gap between the rich and the poor, the inept government, and the like.

I find the chapters on politics most fascinating. Also, I like the chapters on how the image campaign successfully transformed the emperor of war responsibility into an almost saintly figure.

When I started school, the emperor was already a transformed character. But, as a child, I could sense his discomfort: something painfully awkward, stolid, and severe. (Although kids do not have a wide vocabulary, we could feel and judge things.) I was intrigued by his past and character (e.g. what happened to him?). Perhaps, that was the part that even the successful campaign could not change. And, the book provides us some important answers to “the part we most want to know” in our history.

Okinawa 2 (I love Okinawa)

I visited Okinawa last month. Okinawa hosts 74 % of the U.S. bases on 0.6 % of the land. Despite overwhelming opposition, the Japanese government is taking the lead in efforts to build a new U.S. military base in Henoko Bay, emphasizing the deterrence value of the U.S. bases in Japan. Our policy makers want to proceed with the construction "shuku shuku to (calmly and solemnly)."
It is shockingly mindless and undemocratic to disregard the Okinawans' will. Here are some of useful websites on anti-U.S. base acitivities and protests (see the Japanese version – four of eleven sites are in English).

[[http:www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/05/17/national/politics-diplomacy/economics-u-s-base-redevelopment-sway-okinawa-mindset/#.VWg8NFIppf6|Japan Times Journal]]

Looking at Flaws in the Henoko Landfill Permit Process from the Standpoint of the Right to Self-determination

[[http:japanfocus.org/events/view/250|Japan Focus Journal]]

Three frontiers (Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands)

The other day my future sister-in-law took me to the [[w:Tripoint]] where the borders of three countries meet. Somehow, it profoundly struck me as I was born in an island nation without land borders. For our European fellows, though, the line of demarcation between two countries is a quite normal/ordinary thing.
I asked her to take me there again and took some photos. The tripoint reminded me of my poster presentation at the cultural festival (bunkasai) of the high school. There, I raised questions: What if Japan had the land borders? How would it influence our politics, culture, and diplomatic relations?
Perhaps, the definition of protecting country may have been different. It is surely not about buying expensive second-hand military fighters from the US and being a user-friendly American client state. But, it is rather about protecting the lives of the Japanese people, being close, friendly, and diplomatic with other Asian countries, and being an independent American ally.

Right to water

Nice documentary film recommended. Watch below:[[http:www.bottledlifefilm.com/index.php/the-story.html|www.bottledlifefilm.com/index.php/the-story.html]]
As a citizen, it is time to ask oneself if it is worth or simply feasible to fight against international corporates and local industries for the human right to good-quality, drinkable, and affordable water.
...and of course, the excellent film of Annie Leonard and her team:[[http:www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-bottled-water/|"Story of stuff: Story of bottled water"]]
Also, you may be interested in:[[http:www.stopcorporateabuse.org/campaigns/challenge-corporate-control-water/think-outside-bottle/|"Challenge corporate control over water: think outside the bottle!"]]
[[http:www.stopcorporateabuse.org/campaigns/challenge-corporate-control-water/public-water-works/|...and this: "Public water works!"]]
[[http:warisacrime.org/node/40335|...and this: http://warisacrime.org/node/40335]]

Okinawa 2 (I love Okinawa)

I visited Okinawa last month. Okinawa hosts 74 % of the U.S. bases on 0.6 % of the land. Despite overwhelming opposition, the Japanese government is taking the lead in efforts to build a new U.S. military base in Henoko Bay, emphasizing the deterrence value of the U.S. bases in Japan. Our policy makers want to proceed with the construction "shuku shuku to (calmly and solemnly)."
It is shockingly mindless and undemocratic to disregard the Okinawans' will. Here are some of useful websites on anti-U.S. base acitivities and protests (see the Japanese version – four of eleven sites are in English).

Remembering Okuizumi Eizaburo: "Purposeful serendipity"

I have known Mr. Okuizumi Eizaburo for over 20 years. He has been my friend, personal librarian, a sort-of father figure, and above all, a super senpai and sensei.

His help was too natural to notice. As Professor Norma Field wrote for his memorial service: "And I'm so very glad to be with so many of you who are feeling the loss that we could not have calculated because he was so always there, always helping before we even knew that we needed the help."

Okuizumi-san gave me the opportunity to work with him as a translator. His interests included: World War II, Japan's defeat, censored publications in occupied Japan, nationalism, militarism, the freedom of press, history of Japanese newspapers, etc. I was curious enough to translate the materials, but I was absolutely uninterested in these topics. In my ignorance, I thought they were things all lost to history.

I have suddenly come to appreciate all of them, which seem to have gained new relevancy and urgency in the long wake of Fukushima 3.11.

As Professor Field wrote, he was not only a librarian, but also "a scholar in his own right." Her account is especially insightful with regard to his helpfulness, "his own quiet learnedness," and “purposeful serendipity."

"And so that kind of purposeful serendipity, that seems to characterize his life, I think has affected and benefited us all. … So I felt again here a very purposeful serendipity, if it is true that it was accidental that he got into this field. That purposeful serendipity, I felt in some ways explains the mystery I felt about him and the mystery that is not. That is to say, he was that extremely unusual person in our line of business, who was very, very capable, learned, and just went about doing his business quietly, in his understated way without calling attention to it."

His "purposeful serendipity" continues to this day and beyond, and therefore can keep his works alive.

Okinawa 2 (I love Okinawa)

I visited Okinawa last month. Okinawa hosts 74 % of the U.S. bases on 0.6 % of the land. Despite overwhelming opposition, the Japanese government is taking the lead in efforts to build a new U.S. military base in Henoko Bay, emphasizing the deterrence value of the U.S. bases in Japan. Our policy makers want to proceed with the construction "shuku shuku to (calmly and solemnly)."
It is shockingly mindless and undemocratic to disregard the Okinawans' will. Here are some of useful websites on anti-U.S. base acitivities and protests (see the Japanese version – four of eleven sites are in English).

[[http:www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/05/17/national/politics-diplomacy/economics-u-s-base-redevelopment-sway-okinawa-mindset/#.VWg8NFIppf6|Japan Times Journal]]

Looking at Flaws in the Henoko Landfill Permit Process from the Standpoint of the Right to Self-determination

[[http:japanfocus.org/events/view/250|Japan Focus Journal]]

Three frontiers (Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands)

The other day my future sister-in-law took me to the [[w:Tripoint]] where the borders of three countries meet. Somehow, it profoundly struck me as I was born in an island nation without land borders. For our European fellows, though, the line of demarcation between two countries is a quite normal/ordinary thing.
I asked her to take me there again and took some photos. The tripoint reminded me of my poster presentation at the cultural festival (bunkasai) of the high school. There, I raised questions: What if Japan had the land borders? How would it influence our politics, culture, and diplomatic relations?
Perhaps, the definition of protecting country may have been different. It is surely not about buying expensive second-hand military fighters from the US and being a user-friendly American client state. But, it is rather about protecting the lives of the Japanese people, being close, friendly, and diplomatic with other Asian countries, and being an independent American ally.

Okinawa 2 (I love Okinawa)

I visited Okinawa last month. Okinawa hosts 74 % of the U.S. bases on 0.6 % of the land. Despite overwhelming opposition, the Japanese government is taking the lead in efforts to build a new U.S. military base in Henoko Bay, emphasizing the deterrence value of the U.S. bases in Japan. Our policy makers want to proceed with the construction "shuku shuku to (calmly and solemnly)."
It is shockingly mindless and undemocratic to disregard the Okinawans' will. Here are some of useful websites on anti-U.S. base acitivities and protests (see the Japanese version – four of eleven sites are in English).

[[http:www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/05/17/national/politics-diplomacy/economics-u-s-base-redevelopment-sway-okinawa-mindset/#.VWg8NFIppf6|Japan Times Journal]]

Looking at Flaws in the Henoko Landfill Permit Process from the Standpoint of the Right to Self-determination

[[http:japanfocus.org/events/view/250|Japan Focus Journal]]

Three frontiers (Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands)

The other day my future sister-in-law took me to the [[w:Tripoint]] where the borders of three countries meet. Somehow, it profoundly struck me as I was born in an island nation without land borders. For our European fellows, though, the line of demarcation between two countries is a quite normal/ordinary thing.
I asked her to take me there again and took some photos. The tripoint reminded me of my poster presentation at the cultural festival (bunkasai) of the high school. There, I raised questions: What if Japan had the land borders? How would it influence our politics, culture, and diplomatic relations?
Perhaps, the definition of protecting country may have been different. It is surely not about buying expensive second-hand military fighters from the US and being a user-friendly American client state. But, it is rather about protecting the lives of the Japanese people, being close, friendly, and diplomatic with other Asian countries, and being an independent American ally.

Okinawa 2 (I love Okinawa)

I visited Okinawa last month. Okinawa hosts 74 % of the U.S. bases on 0.6 % of the land. Despite overwhelming opposition, the Japanese government is taking the lead in efforts to build a new U.S. military base in Henoko Bay, emphasizing the deterrence value of the U.S. bases in Japan. Our policy makers want to proceed with the construction "shuku shuku to (calmly and solemnly)."
It is shockingly mindless and undemocratic to disregard the Okinawans' will. Here are some of useful websites on anti-U.S. base acitivities and protests (see the Japanese version – four of eleven sites are in English).

[[http:www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/05/17/national/politics-diplomacy/economics-u-s-base-redevelopment-sway-okinawa-mindset/#.VWg8NFIppf6|Japan Times Journal]]

Looking at Flaws in the Henoko Landfill Permit Process from the Standpoint of the Right to Self-determination

[[http:japanfocus.org/events/view/250|Japan Focus Journal]]

Kitano Takeshi’s Elementary Schools and Japanese Schools in Benin

About three months ago, I wrote a blog article on the children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic in Malawi and the importance of education as a critical instrument for social and economic development (or human development). Admittedly, what I wrote may be too crazy or too utopian to be realized.
But, we humans sometimes think alike. By chance, I learned about a Japanese guy who has already put the similar ideas into practice. That is Mr. Takeshi Kitano (Beat Takeshi)! What?! Is he an activist beside being a filmmaker and a comedian?According to these Youtube, Takeshi Kitano used to have a TV show called “This is what is strange about the Japanese people.” A hundred foreigners living in Japan were invited to voice their observations about weird and negative aspects of Nihon. One of the guests was Mr. Zomahoun Idossou Rufin (known as Zomahon), from the Republic of Benin in West Africa.

That was how Zomahon met Takeshi twelve years ago or so. With the help of Takeshi, Zomahon built four schools in his country including Takeshi’s Elementary School and Takeshi Japanese School.

In the school lunch program in Benin, according to Takeshi, it costs 25 yens (about 25 cents in the USA) and there are kids who can afford it and those who cannot afford it. “It is cruel that those kids have to watch the others eating.” So, they have established a sort of child sponsorship. Becoming a sponsor, a supporter in Japan receives a photograph of the child and vice versa, and that’s how they make a bond of friendship.

In their elementary schools, they provide free education and free lunch for kids. They also help the local people to grow agricultural products. Among the graduates from these schools, those who have mastered the language are sent to Japan, trained to be medical doctors and other professionals, and they work in Japan for certain years. They eventually return to Benin and work for their country.

"Suppose, some kids succeed in graduating from universities and become important one day. It is cool if s/he visits Japan to meet a person who has treated to lunches, isn't it?,” Beat Takeshi remarks.

In Youtube, you will see that some Beninese graduates prostrate themselves on the ground to show their gratitude. Humble Takeshi seems to get self-conscious and in order to hide that, he makes a joke, “Zomahon sometimes does the same thing when we meet. And, it makes me look bad like a bully!”

Okinawa 2 (I love Okinawa)

I visited Okinawa last month. Okinawa hosts 74 % of the U.S. bases on 0.6 % of the land. Despite overwhelming opposition, the Japanese government is taking the lead in efforts to build a new U.S. military base in Henoko Bay, emphasizing the deterrence value of the U.S. bases in Japan. Our policy makers want to proceed with the construction "shuku shuku to (calmly and solemnly)."
It is shockingly mindless and undemocratic to disregard the Okinawans' will. Here are some of useful websites on anti-U.S. base acitivities and protests (see the Japanese version – four of eleven sites are in English).

Okinawa 2 (I love Okinawa)

I visited Okinawa last month. Okinawa hosts 74 % of the U.S. bases on 0.6 % of the land. Despite overwhelming opposition, the Japanese government is taking the lead in efforts to build a new U.S. military base in Henoko Bay, emphasizing the deterrence value of the U.S. bases in Japan. Our policy makers want to proceed with the construction "shuku shuku to (calmly and solemnly)."
It is shockingly mindless and undemocratic to disregard the Okinawans' will. Here are some of useful websites on anti-U.S. base acitivities and protests (see the Japanese version – four of eleven sites are in English).